Table of Contents
Choosing an Executive Function Coach
What is your approach to EF coaching? How does your process work?
We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to coaching. As a result, our approach works with clients to identify goals and pain points. We then identify the best coach for the situation and design a customized strategy toward those individual needs. Sometimes it takes a while to find the best strategies for the student. As a result, we may spend some time adjusting and fine-tuning strategies as we deepen the student’s repertoire of EF support tools to draw from.
Each session, we talk about the specific tasks the student is working on, both short-term and long-term, and create specific action plans to get those items done. Once we agree to a plan, the coach will check in with the student throughout the week to see how things are going. These less formal check-ins can take the form of shared docs, text messages, or asynchronous video chats to help build accountability and troubleshoot the inevitable hurdles and hiccups along the way.
Our goal is always to get students to independence so they don’t need us anymore. This often means that we may start meeting weekly with frequent check-ins and then move to biweekly meetings and, eventually, monthly sessions. Many of our students appreciate the accountability aspect that this builds in to help them maintain the skills and strategies they’re learning.
What are the benefits of working with you?
Building Savvy Learners was founded on the principle of putting students first and developing solutions uniquely tailored to their strengths, needs, and interests. As the coaching team has grown, we’ve carefully selected coaches committed to these values. Each coach uniquely understands the challenges students (and their teachers and parents) face in today’s school environments because of their own experiences serving in the public education sector in some capacity.
BSL coaches have at least a master’s degree in education and extensive experience working with neurodiverse populations. In fact, some of our coaches personally identify as neurodiverse or twice-exceptional (2e) or are the parents of children with these labels. We understand how important it is for students to have positive educational experiences in a world that’s not always adapted to their needs.
In addition, BSL coaches are committed to ongoing education to improve our services. When we’re not working with parents and teachers to bring awareness to executive function supports, we’re growing our own expertise about related topics, including:
- ADHD-friendly coaching techniques,
- Anxiety in the classroom,
- Assistive technology,
- Coping strategies for emotional regulation,
- Digital health and technology addiction,
- Mindfulness,
- Multi-sensory approaches to learning,
- Social Thinking,
- and so much more!
Our process carefully considers the student’s needs and matches them with a coach well-suited to their unique situation.
What's the difference between an executive function coach and a general tutor?
General tutors often focus on a couple of subject areas with content expertise, while an executive function coach is more like the Swiss-army knife of tutors. While we may not always know all of the content, we have a good big-picture understanding of the learning processes and the strategies that will assist with juggling all of the subjects and studying for them. The skills and strategies we work on will be applicable to many learning experiences throughout life, not just a specific course.
How do you know if we're a good match?
From your coach’s perspective, you’ll be a good match for us if you’re interested in change and doing the work it will take to make those changes happen. If the student is resistant or thinks this is a bad idea, then it will be a lot harder to get results.
We want you to feel comfortable being open and honest while talking with your coach. We hope you’ll feel like we can have tough conversations with one another — because sometimes, that might be necessary.
How do you help kids if they're resistant to help?
We won’t lie – that makes our job so much harder! If a student is resistant to help, we will first try to help them recognize the benefits of having improved executive function skills. For example, if they can be more productive and efficient with their school work, then they’ll ultimately have more free time and less stress to do the things they love to do. If they’re completely unwilling to try new things, though, they might not be ready for executive function coaching.
How do you help kids with emotional regulation issues?
Do you work with parents? In what capacity?
Yes! We need parents as partners along this journey. As a result, we include parents in some capacity through all of our efforts. Besides meeting with the student, we try to meet with parents early in the process to understand what’s happening behind the scenes. Once coaching starts, we include parents in weekly personal emails that describe what we talked about in the session, what new strategies we’re trying to implement, what to look for and reinforce, and how to support the student at home. We’re also available to answer any questions and receive updates throughout the week
What if there is an urgent situation? Can we get your help sooner?
Absolutely! Email us at [email protected] to let us know what’s happening, and we can schedule an emergency call or session.
Do you connect with the school, teachers, therapists, etc?
We can with your permission. Strict privacy laws govern schools, teachers, and therapists, so they shouldn’t talk to us unless they have something in writing granting them your permission to discuss the student with our coaches. Let us know if you want a template for giving that permission, and then once that’s in place, we’ll be happy to connect with them.
Do you have support materials we can use to implement your methods? PDFs, booklets, checklists, workbooks, online courses, etc.
Yes — all of the above. We’ll provide relevant support materials for any of the topics we discuss.
Logistics and Payments
Where does coaching take place?
All live coaching sessions (individual and group) happen via Zoom. In very rare circumstances, coaching can happen face-to-face, but that’s usually due to a specific need that can’t be met via an online session, and that option is not available on a weekly basis or with all of our coaches.
What if I need to cancel a session or can't attend a scheduled event?
Life happens, so it may be necessary to cancel an individual session from time to time. If that’s the case, please notify your coach as soon as possible. As long as you notify us at least 24 hours before your session, then we can offer to schedule a make-up session that week or credit your payment toward the following month.
What if we're not seeing results? How do we stop?
It can take some time to see results. That’s why we encourage you to commit to at least a semester of coaching. We also want your honest feedback about what’s working and what’s not so we can adjust strategies to fit your needs. But if you’re doing the work, implementing the strategies, and you don’t feel like things are working for you, let us know, and we can stop. All of our offerings have signed service agreements that spell out the process.
How do payments work?
We use Stripe and can accept secure payments from all major debit and credit cards. Once you decide on your package (e.g., individual or group coaching; monthly or one-time payments), we’ll send you an invoice that should be paid before the next session starts.
Getting Started
How do we know if we're ready for coaching?
If you are ready to invest the time, energy, and resources into enacting changes and your child is on board for that, then you are likely ready for coaching. But this is work, and it will require your active involvement and participation to get the best results. If you and your child aren’t ready for that commitment, then you might not be ready. That’s one of the reasons I encourage the discovery call so we can talk about where you’re at on this journey and what working with a coach involves.
How do people get started with you? What are the next steps?
The best way to get started is to book a discovery call to set up a time for us to chat about what’s happening in your life that’s causing you to seek my services. You can also email me at [email protected].